Stackable Container Cap With Alignment Skirt And Stop Structure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing stackable containers face issues with lid removal difficulty, cross-threading, contamination, and limited decoration flexibility, particularly with small cosmetic containers like lip balm or lipstick.
Innovation Solution
A stackable container design featuring a threaded cap with a vaulted interior, stop structure for preventing excessive tightening, and a skirt portion for alignment, along with handle formations for easy rotation, allowing for secure and easy engagement without cross-threading and facilitating decoration orientation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a snap-on lid is used, then the lid is easy to remove for access to the storage cavity, but the lid becomes detached too easily
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a snap-on lid mechanism to a threaded cap mechanism, changing the fundamental engagement parameter from elastic deformation to screw threading. This provides controlled retention through thread engagement while allowing deliberate removal through reverse rotation, resolving the contradiction between easy removal and secure retention.
2Reliability
If a threaded lid is used, then the lid provides secure retention, but the lid becomes extremely difficult to remove, particularly when threads become contaminated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the threading function from the sealing function. The threaded cap provides secure retention through threading, while the skirt portion with clearance space separates the threading mechanism from the product contact zone. This segmentation allows easy removal by rotating the cap without contaminating the threads, while maintaining secure retention through the threaded engagement.
3Reliability
If proper threaded engagement is attempted, then secure retention is achieved, but cross-threading can permanently damage the threads
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates a skewer alignment feature that performs preliminary alignment of the cap and body before threaded engagement. This preliminary action ensures proper coaxial alignment, preventing cross-threading from occurring in the first place, while still allowing secure retention through proper threaded engagement.
4Reliability
If the product projects from the body into the lid, then the lid fits the product closely, but the outside of the body is easily contaminated by the product
Solution Approach 1:
The patent adds a vertical dimension to the cap design with the skirt portion extending below the body's equator. This dimensional extension creates a clearance space that physically separates the product-containing cap interior from the body exterior, allowing close product containment while preventing contamination of the body outside surface.
Data Source
AI summary
A stackable container, including a body and a cap threadingly engageable with a neck portion of the body and having a top portion formed with a depression for selectively oriented snap-registered engagement with a base portion of a counterpart of the body, the cap further including handle projections and a skirt. Opposite stop structures prevent rotation of the cap relative to the body beyond predetermined threaded engagement; a detent releasably captures the body in the predetermined threaded engagement. A base portion of the body having inclined side walls facilitates rotation of the body with respect to the cap. The skirt extends downwardly more than an axial length of the neck portion for guiding the body into alignment with the cap. A consumable product such as a cosmetic can extend into the cap from the body.